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Rocket Raccoon
Rocket Raccoon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976). He is an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon, who is an expert marksman and master tactician. His name and aspects of his character are a nod to The Beatles' 1968 song "Rocky Raccoon". Rocket Raccoon appeared as a prominent member in the 2008 relaunch of the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy. The character has appeared in several media adaptations as a member of that team, including animated television series, toys, and video games. He appears in the live-action films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), all set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In these appearances, Rocket Raccoon is voiced by Bradley Cooper, with motion capture provided by Sean Gunn. Publication history The character was created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen, and inspired by the Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon". Other references to the song were featured in Rocket's appearance in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), which was titled "Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon" and saw the Hulk help Rocket stop a villain trying to steal "Gideon's Bible", which in the Marvel Universe was a book that contained the sum of all knowledge on the Loonies colony. Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976), in the back-up feature "The Sword in the Star", under the name "Rocky". He would next appear in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), where it is learned that "Rocky" is short for "Rocket". In 1985, he received his own four-issue limited series and in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview, penciled by Mike Mignola and inked by Al Gordon with Al Milgrom. Rocket appeared in Quasar #15 in 1990 and later appeared in three issues of Sensational She-Hulk in 1992 (#44-46). The character only appeared in a total of ten comic books in his first thirty years of existence. Besides a brief appearance in a 2006 issue of Exiles, Rocket Raccoon was next seen in 2007's Annihilation: Conquest and Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord limited series, and their spin-off series, a new volume of Guardians of the Galaxy. He remained a regular member of the series cast until it was canceled with issue #25 in 2010, also appearing in the follow-up limited series The Thanos Imperative. Along with fellow Guardian Groot, Rocket starred in backup features in Annihilators #1-4 (March–June 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept.–Dec. 2011). Rocket Raccoon, along with the other members of the Guardians, appeared in issues #4-8 of Avengers Assemble, a series intended as a jumping-on point for fans of the film The Avengers. He appears prominently in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the 2012 Marvel NOW! relaunch. In February 2014, it was announced that Skottie Young will be the writer and artist for a Rocket Raccoon ongoing series. The series began in July 2014, with the first issue selling over 300,000 copies. Jake Parker replaced Young as the artist beginning with issue #5. The series ended in May 2015 as one of many titles to be cancelled for Marvel's Secret Wars event. A new volume, titled Rocket Raccoon and Groot, began in January 2016 as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel relaunch. Fictional character biography Rocket Raccoon acts as the "Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant", an area of outer space sealed off from the rest of the cosmos by the so-called Galacian Wall. Rocket is captain of the starship Rack 'n' Ruin, and he and his first mate Wal Rus (a talking walrus) come from the planet Halfworld in the Keystone Quadrant, an abandoned colony for the mentally ill where the animal companions were genetically manipulated to grant them human level intelligence and bipedal body construction for many to become caretakers of the inmates. Rocket was Halfworld's chief law officer ("ranger") who protected the colony against various threats. At one point, Judson Jakes tried to steal the Halfworld Bible, but was thwarted by Rocket and various animal associates. Later, Lord Dyvyne abducted Rocket's friend Lylla, and Jakes began the Toy War. As the Toy War continued, Blackjack O'Hare teamed up with Rocket, and Rocket was reunited with Lylla. The Rack 'n' Ruin was soon destroyed, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne teamed up to kill Rocket Raccoon. Rocket Raccoon and his friends cured the Loonies of their mental illnesses, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne were apparently killed. Rocket and the animals as well as the robots left Halfworld and took off into space for their own adventures. Some time later, Rocket was revealed to have been a laboratory subject on the Stranger's planet, and escaped his captivity there. Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket Raccoon resurfaced as a member of the team chosen to accompany Star-Lord on his mission to stop a Phalanx infiltration of the Kree homeworld. Rocket is depicted as a gifted military tactician who is fearless, loyal, and insightful. It is heavily implied that he has a case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Rocket's trademark rocket skates are absent. Rocket joins the new Guardians of the Galaxy at the behest of his friend Star-Lord. It is he who suggests that the team adopt that moniker after hearing it mentioned by Major Victory. Later, when the team almost disbands and Peter Quill (Star-Lord) disappears (sent into the Negative Zone by Ronan), Rocket keeps the team alive, and brings in Groot as member, as they had become firm friends. Rocket takes over as leader until they rescue Peter and save the Earth from an alien invasion. When the team tries to halt the growing War of Kings, Rocket leads the portion of the team assigned to make contact with the Shi'ar. They are unable to teleport into the Emperor Vulcan's flagship and have to be rescued by the Starjammers and Rocket's old friend Ch'od. They are able to bring back the rightful queen of the Shi'ar, but she is killed after Rocket departs, much to his horror. After the Guardians disband, Rocket Raccoon takes up a normal job with Timely Inc. He and Groot were reunited and tricked into returning to Halfworld: there, he found that his memories of the place were mostly half-truths and deliberately crafted fake memories. In reality, Jakes and Blackjack O'Hare had worked with Rocket in providing security at Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane; Doctor Dyvyne had been Head of Psychology there; and both the anthropomorphic animals and the automaton clowns were deliberately created to work at the asylum, as their appearance would calm the inmates. The crises that Rocket half-remembered had been caused by the psychic supervillain the Star Thief, who had been admitted as an inmate and used his psychic powers to turn the inhabitants against each other. Rocket had turned the warders into a biological "key" to keep Star-Thief locked up, and deliberately altered his mind and left Halfworld so it could never be opened - but he was tricked into returning by the Thief, whose mind had escaped into the asylum after his host body died. When the Guardians of the Galaxy title was relaunched in 2013, Rocket was again a member of the team. In the first issue of Secret Wars, the Guardians of the Galaxy take part in the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, in which Rocket and Groot are killed by the Children of Tomorrow. All-New, All-Different Marvel As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, Rocket Raccoon takes leadership of the Guardians of the Galaxy while Star-Lord was busy handling things on Spartax. Powers and abilities Rocket Raccoon possesses the normal attributes of an Earth raccoon, including speed (which has been additionally amplified by his training), and an acute sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch. Sharp claws allow him to scale walls, buildings, and trees with ease. He is an accomplished starship pilot, a brilliant engineer and technician, and an expert marksman with the two laser pistols he carries as well as having an affinity for heavy weapons. He is a master military tactician and leader, attributes that help him take charge of the Guardians of the Galaxy when Star-Lord is unavailable. In other media Television *Rocket Raccoon (along with the other Guardians of the Galaxy) appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Greg Ellis. He (along with the other Guardians of the Galaxy) is seen in the episode "Michael Korvac". *Rocket Raccoon appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series, voiced by Billy West (in the episodes "Guardians of the Galaxy") and later by Trevor Devall (for subsequent episodes). In the episode "Guardians of the Galaxy", he is shown as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Sam Alexander's trainer. Spider-Man and the Guardians save Earth from Korvac's Chitauri army. In the episode "The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy", Rocket Raccoon was with the Guardians of the Galaxy when they land on Earth to repair their spaceship at the time when Titus leads the Chitauri into targeting Sam's Nova helmet. The episode "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 2 features a pirate version of Rocket Raccoon that lives in a pirate reality. He and Cosmo the Spacedog assisted Howard the Duck in a mutiny against Web Beard the Pirate when he claimed the treasure for himself. With help from Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid, the mutineers and Web Beard got back together even when helping Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid into fighting the Kraken. *Rocket Raccoon appears in Avengers Assemble, voiced initially by Seth Green in "Guardians and Spaceknights" and later by Trevor Devall in "Widow's Run". *Rocket Raccoon appears in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "It's a Wonderful Smash", where Seth Green reprises the role. *Rocket Raccoon appears in the Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers episode "Guardians of the Galaxy", voiced by Fumihiro Okabayashi. *Trevor Devall reprises his role in the Guardians of the Galaxy series. His history with Halfworld remains intact here. * Rocket Raccoon appears in the Christmas TV special Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight!, voiced again by Trevor Devall. In order to afford money to repair their ship, Rocket Raccoon and Groot take on the bounty to obtain Santa Claus and end up meeting Mrs. Claus. * Rocket Raccoon appears in the Rocket and Groot shorts, voiced again by Trevor Devall. * Rocket Raccoon appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat, voiced again by Trevor Devall.End credits for Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat Film .]] *An adaptation of the character appears in the live-action Marvel Studios film ''Guardians of the Galaxy, portrayed by Sean Gunn via motion capture and voiced by Bradley Cooper. His real name in the film is 89P13. In addition to being genetically altered, Rocket is shown to have cybernetic implants within his body. He is only referred to as Rocket in the film, and asks "What's a Raccoon?" when told of his resemblance to the animal by Peter Quill. He serves as the team's pilot and technical expert, providing the weapon that Quill uses against Ronan the Accuser in the final confrontation and piloting a Ravager ship in the final assault against Ronan's fleet. Rocket also displays a talent for engineering jailbreaks. Having previously escaped from 22 prisons, he devises and executes a scheme to free his eventual teammates from a Nova Corps prison. Screenwriter Nicole Perlman has stated that early drafts of the film did not include the character due to "a little bit of a fear that he would come across as cartoonish because he's a raccoon." Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was persuaded to approve Rocket's inclusion in the film. A live raccoon named "Oreo" was used on set to help animators accurately capture the motion and behaviors of it for their CGI model. Director James Gunn took Oreo to the film's European premiere. *Cooper and Gunn reprised their roles for Rocket in the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, released in 2017. In the film, he causes the team to get chased by the Sovereign after stealing their anulax batteries. He is left on the planet where they crash landed (as a result of him and Quill fighting over the controls) to guard Nebula with Baby Groot after the rest explore Ego's planet. When captured by the Ravagers, Rocket and Yondu bond over their similarities and manage to escape the ship alongside Groot and Yondu's right-hand man Kraglin. They assist the other Guardians in combating Ego's forces. When Yondu stays behind to save Quill from the planet's destruction, Rocket gives him equipment and welcomes him as a member of the Guardians. He is saddened by Yondu's sacrifice in the climax. Running gags throughout the film include Rocket repeatedly being mistaken for different animals, angered when called a raccoon, and criticized for his rude behavior. *Cooper and Gunn reprise their role in the film Avengers: Infinity War. In this film, Rocket joins with Groot and Thor in helping to forge Thor's new weapon Stormbreaker. In addition, Rocket Raccoon helps provide Thor a prosthetic eye to replace the one that he lost in his fight with Hela. He later joins the other Avengers and Groot on Earth in the battle of Wakanda. After Thanos wipes out half the universe, Rocket is the only remaining Guardian left alive on Earth, with Nebula surviving on Titan. A running gag throughout the film is Thor referring to Rocket as "rabbit." *Cooper will reprise his role in the untitled sequel (2019). Video games *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the MMORPG Marvel Super Hero Squad Online; he is in the Rocket Box. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the crossover fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, voiced by Greg Ellis in a Cockney accent. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the MMORPG Marvel Heroes, voiced by Steven Blum. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by John DiMaggio. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Nolan North. He also appears in Disney Infinity 3.0. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight. *Rocket and Groot appear as a combined character in Marvel Puzzle Quest. *Rocket Raccoon appears in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, voiced by Nolan North.Nolan North is Rocket in Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy game *Rocket Raccoon appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, with Trevor Devall reprising his role. He will be assisted by Groot during gameplay. *Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Mikey O'Connor.http://earachevoices.com/voice/mikey-oconnor/ Toys *A Rocket Raccoon action figure was available as part of a Guardians of the Galaxy three pack in 2011 as part of the Marvel Universe toyline. *Rocket Raccoon is a build-a-figure in the Marvel Legends toyline released in 2013. *A Rocket Raccoon and Groot figure set with a "Dancing Baby Groot" will be released by Hot Toys. Newspaper comic strips *Rocket Raccoon began appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper comic strip in December 2016, in a story where Spider-Man and Mary Jane discover him in a spaceship that has crashed upon the Earth. Theme park attractions Rocket appears in the ride Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! at Disney California Adventure with Bradley Cooper reprising his role from the films. He and the rest of the Guardians were captured by the Collector to be put on display, but he manages to escape and enters the room the guests are in through a vent (where he's an audio animatronic) and hijacks the video to explain his plan on rescuing his friends. The guests will use their access passes to enter the gantry lift while Rocket rides on top to blow up the generator so that the Guardians, as well as the other creatures in the collection, can escape. The Guardians will then reunite with Mantis so that they can escape. Collected editions *''Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant'' (hardcover, Aug. 2011, ) collects: The Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket Raccoon Vol. 1 #1–4, and the story from Marvel Preview #7 ("The Sword in the Star!: Stave 2: Witchworld!"). *''Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection'' (softcover, April 2013, ) collects: a story from Tales to Astonish #13, the story from Marvel Preview #7, The Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket Raccoon Vol. 1 #1–4, Annihilators #1–4, and Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4. *''Rocket Raccoon: A Chasing Tail!'' (hardcover, March 2015, ) collects: Rocket Raccoon Vol. 2 #1-6. *''Rocket Raccoon: Storytailor!'' (hardcover, August 2015, ) collects: Rocket Raccoon Vol. 2 #7-11. *''Rocket Raccoon & Groot Vol. 0: Bite and Bark'' (softcover, October 2016, ) collects: Rocket Raccoon Vol. 2 #1-11, Groot #1-6, and material from Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers #1. *''Rocket Raccoon & Groot Vol. 1: Tricks of the Trades!'' (softcover, August 2016, ) collects: Rocket Raccoon & Groot #1-6. *''Rocket Raccoon & Groot Vol. 2:'' (softcover, November 2016, ) collects: Rocket Raccoon & Groot #7-10, TBD. References }} External links * * *Rocket Raccoon entry at the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe *Rocket Raccoon at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators Category:Guardians of the Galaxy characters Category:Marvel Comics superheroes Category:Marvel vs. Capcom fighters Category:Superhero film characters Category:Animal superheroes Category:Anthropomorphic animal characters Category:Characters created by Bill Mantlo Category:Characters created by Keith Giffen Category:Fictional aviators Category:Fictional engineers Category:Fictional inventors Category:Fictional marksmen and snipers Category:Fictional raccoons Category:Fictional soldiers Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1976